Mike turned to Shauna and froze. He sucked in his breath, his knees weakened and his heart raced. Winston Carty held a laser gun to her head. Tears ran down her cheeks but a blazing anger radiated from her eyes. “Winston.” He’d kill the man.
The name caused Douglas and Louise to glance up from gathering the last of their documents.
“Winston?” Douglas wore the look of a man enraged. His face had reddened to the point it looked purple. “How could you?”
“We treated you like a son,” Louise stated. One hand was balled into a fist, a mother ready to kill to protect her offspring.
“No. Never. You treated me as a charity case,” Winston spat. “You felt sorry for me.”
“We made you head of correspondents for The Real Truth,” Douglas said.
Winston pulled Shauna closer to him, pushed the laser gun into her temple. “A title in name only. Every time I came to you with a suggestion on how to infiltrate the Guardians you stifled me. Then, when the organization was up and running smoothly, you ignored me.” Winston laughed. His eyes lit with mirth. “I tipped off the Guardians about your activities. That’s why you were arrested.”
Shauna gasped. “You sold out my parents? They could have been killed!” Shauna tried to turn but Winston’s hand tightened around her waist. The gun pushed harder into her head.
Mike knew they were out of time. This little discussion was for the benefit of the Global Guardians. Winston’s explanation gave them time to land so they could be captured. He waited. When the time was right he’d make his move.
“But you were tortured,” Louise said. “Why would you collaborate with the men who tortured you?”
“Yes, I was tortured. I wanted to die to escape the pain they inflicted. It cemented my hatred for you both. I made a deal with the Guardians that if they let me go I’d find you and lead them to you.”
Mike saw the gun relax at Shauna’s temple. Winston seemed lost in his memories. He took a step closer to the man.
“What did you get out of it besides your freedom?” Douglas asked. “How much did they pay you?”
“Enough to live the rest of my life in peace without being hassled.” Winston shoved Shauna forward but kept his hand on her arm. The laser gun dug into her skull again.
“So how did you find us, Winston?” Douglas glanced at Mike. Mike imperceptibly shook his head and moved still closer.
“Your darling daughter led me right to you.” Winston sounded like a man in an insane asylum. “All she had to do was tell me you were alive and I set the steps in motion to seek you out. Didn’t she do a great job?” He leaned forward to kiss Shauna playfully.
Mike moved so fast no one saw it coming. He knocked the gun-hand away from Shauna’s head, the gun going off in the confusion. Then he tackled the man and pummeled him, not realizing he was out of control.
Shauna grabbed Mike’s arm. “Stop it. He’s no threat anymore. We have to get out of here. Mike, stop it.”
It took a moment for the rage to drain away. When he’d first seen Winston hold the laser gun to Shauna’s head he’d gone crazy with fear. Anger replaced it when the story unfolded. Mike hauled Winston up and shoved him toward Douglas.
“Leave him,” Douglas said. “We need to go.”
Shauna held Winston’s laser gun on him and said, “What a sad, pathetic man you have become. I’m ashamed to ever have thought you a friend.”
“You’re surrounded by Global Guardians, you know. You can’t escape.” Winston laughed and coughed spraying blood from his mouth.
“Then where are they?” Mike asked.
Winston pulled out a device and waved it at them. “They’re waiting for my signal.” He pressed a button.
The room shimmied, the walls bulged. Mike hauled Shauna toward the escape chute. Douglas grabbed Louise. The Wentworths made it to the chute first and disappeared into the blackness. Mike and Shauna were right behind them but the explosion tore the building apart, starting from the shattered front and working toward the back. The shuddering and shaking caused the trapdoor in the chute to close with a clang. Mike shoved Shauna into the hole for the chute but they had nowhere to go. The building shuddered one last sigh and Mike threw his body over Shauna’s as the walls crumbled and the roof exploded.
When the dust cleared Mike raised his head. No one. Where were the Guardians that Winston said were outside? Why hadn’t they stormed the rubble to find them? “Shauna? Love, are you all right?”
“Except for every muscle in my body being bruised I’m fine.”
Mike hauled her from the hole and hugged her. They looked around. Winston lay dead on the floor next to an overturned desk. Cold wind blew through the destroyed building and snowflakes fell, already covering the destruction in a blanket of white. Mike shivered. “Come on. We need to get out of here.”
“Where are the Guardians?” Shauna asked.
“I don’t know but let’s not wait to find out.”
They ran toward the landing zone. Not a lime green uniform in sight. They grabbed the nearest skycar and took off.
* * * * *
“What do you mean they escaped?” Robert Cranston hollered.
Layton Kendall shuffled his feet and wrung his hands. “Look, Cranston, give me time to explain.”
“You imbecile,” he roared. “The leaders of The Subversives escaped a planned operation where all of their buildings were blown up? I’ll have your head for this.”
“Robert, let the man explain,” Donald Carson interjected. “Calm down. We’ll get them, sooner or later.”
“We don’t have later! The world is demanding an explanation about our ‘secret’.” Cranston whirled on Kendall. “You’ve been the weak link all along. You pussyfooted, lily-livered weakling. It’s your fault mass humanity is demonstrating. Look at how they’ve surrounded our buildings. How’d you let the Wentworths get away?”
Kendall’s mouth opened and closed a few times. His Adam’s apple bobbed. After putting the desk between him and Cranston he said, “Our inside man led us to their hidden compound. He deactivated the code for their invisi-shield. The Guardians bombed the building into rubble. But the man, Winston Carty, was to give us a signal to land when it was all clear and he never did. When the Guardians realized the man hadn’t lived through the explosions, they prepared to land. But not before a skycar raced into the sky, flashed by a hovering green and white and then disappeared underneath its invisi-shield.”
No one spoke for some time. The smoke from Cranston’s cigar hung heavy in the room. Cranston punched a button on his desk and said in an unnaturally quiet tone of voice, “Send him in.”
A tall man entered wearing a hat pulled low over his eyes. He glanced at the four men in the room, nodded to Cranston and approached Layton Kendall. He swung the man around to look him in the eyes and plunged a long, thin needle into his heart. Kendall’s mouth opened, his eyes widened in shock. He slid to the floor dead before he hit it.
“No one makes a mistake like that and lives to tell about it,” Cranston said.
* * * * *
The world demanded an explanation. Demonstrations continued until the leaders of The Subversives made an appearance on the worldnet surrounded by a new police force not associated with the Global Guardians. Louise and Douglas Wentworth explained about the secret organization named The Society and how there had been enough oil in the world all along. They explained how the Fearsome Foursome created a shortage to drive up prices and line their pockets.
Once word of the colossal greed hit the streets the world financial market nose-dived. Circle Planet Communications stumbled and shuddered. Planet Healthcare Systems soared because of all the injuries that needed to be repaired due to the riots. The Global Guardians were disbanded, the corrupt Guardians arrested by a temporary police force that had been put together by The Subversives, trained, ready and hoping for this outcome. The corporation was forced to close its doors after two-thirds of the men and women quit, their ideals destroyed.
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But the world began to heal itself. Four new CEOs took over temporarily. Changes were made, demanded by the public who would never be duped again. Each CEO had an oversight committee. Each had to be elected for a term no longer than six years. If a scandal occurred on their watch they were imprisoned for life, no ifs, ands, or buts. Independent police organizations rose once again. They worked under the same rule worldwide but were headed by regional officers also elected by the population. No one would ever have total control of a worldwide organization again.
Ever.
* * * * *
Mike and Shauna hadn’t had time to be together much since Switzerland. Now, a month later they entered Shauna’s apartment back in New York and fell to the sofa in exhaustion. They’d been sent all over the world as ambassadors for The Subversives. They explained in detail how they uncovered the biggest scandal in over one hundred years. Hailed as heroes Douglas and Louise Wentworth were given the Nobel Prize for Integrity, a new category developed by the organization that gave out the awards. Their SubCorp group was made the oversight company for the CEOs and the regional heads of the police force.
“So, here we are, alone and not on the run for the first time since I’ve met you.” Mike pulled Shauna close to him. He kissed Shauna’s lower lip and sucked on it until she groaned in surrender. “What should we do?” He playfully pulled on her lip, then ran his tongue over it to soothe the red area. Shauna kissed Mike and hugged him to her. The hug felt different to Mike. Desperate. “What’s wrong, love?” He put his finger under her chin and forced her to look directly in his eyes.
“I love you, Mike. I’ll always love you.”
“Uh-oh, that sounds like a brush-off.” Mike straightened on the sofa. His heart sank to his toes. His knees felt weak. “Here comes the I-had-a-great-time-but-now-it’s-over speech.”
“No… I don’t know.”
“I love you, Shauna. I’ve asked you to marry me. You said yes.” Mike couldn’t believe he’d been wrong about her. How could she leave him when they finally had a chance to make a life together? He knew that life without her would be long and painful and prepared for the worst.
“I would marry you in an instant. I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you. But here’s the problem.” Shauna sucked in a breath then blurted out, “where are we going to live? In my time or yours?”
“I don’t know, Shauna. The sacrifices are huge for both of us.”
Tears fell down her cheeks leaving glistening tracks on her face. Mike’s heart flipped over at the sight. He felt his eyes water and struggled to hold back his own tears. “Do we have to make that decision right now?”
“How long can we put it off? Don’t you want to go home and see your brother?”
Mike did. He ached to see Scott. “I do. But I don’t want to leave you either. I feel as if my heart will break into hard little pieces if I leave you.”
“Exactly my point.” Shauna sniffled. She went to the bathroom and came back with a tissue. After blowing her nose she tossed the wadded tissue onto the coffee table. Mike watched it unfold, clean and ready for use again.
“We’re both tired, sweetheart. Let’s sleep on this. Maybe we’ll come up with a solution in the morning.” Shauna nodded her agreement.
Mike scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom. He lay with her on the bed for a while and stared at her beautiful face. She stared back with love and sadness. He stroked her forehead, around her eyes and down her perfect nose then lowered his head and kissed her with all the love he had in his heart. When he came up for air he said, “You’re mine. You’ll always be mine.”
* * * * *
The force of his words struck Shauna. She was his. Would always be his. She pulled off her clothes in a hurry and ripped at the buttons on Mike’s shirt. “I want you naked. I need to see you, touch you, smell you.” They tangled in their attempt to undress him but neither one found it funny. Once their clothes were a pile on the floor, Shauna kissed Mike.
The kiss told of love, passion and desperation. Shauna wanted this night to be perfect. If she had to remember one night with Mike, this would be it. She touched him softly, then raked her fingers across his back. Their tongues dueled, a fight to the finish. Their hearts beat together, their breaths were one.
She kissed him all the way down to his erection where she brought him to a fever pitch of desperation. He cried out her name, begged her to take him to the end of time. She did just that when she climbed on top of him and met him thrust for thrust.
The peak was near, the tension unbearable. Shauna knew only Mike, loved only Mike. At the last second he flipped her over and drove into her. “Mine. You’re mine,” he cried. They crested the highest mountain, fell into the deepest valley and their two hearts became one.
* * * * *
The next morning Mike and Shauna sat at the kitchen table without speaking. Mike knew this was D-day. The decision would be made and there’d be no turning back. He hadn’t slept much thinking about whether he’d give up his time and live in Shauna’s. He didn’t think Shauna slept much either. The doorbell rang and Shauna said, “Door open.” She didn’t get up from the table, which showed Mike that she too felt weighed down by their decision.
“Good morning, my children.” Louise Wentworth breezed into the room, Douglas trailing behind her with a large basket of fresh fruit. “Everyone ready for a wedding?”
Shauna burst into tears and fled to the bedroom.
“Good going, Louise,” Douglas muttered. He put the basket on the kitchen table and turned to Mike. “You two have a fight?”
“No. We can’t decide which time we are going to live in. I think the wedding’s off.” The thought scared the hell out of Mike. “I need her, Doug. How am I going to live without her?”
Louise took one look at Mike, frowned at her husband and stomped to the bedroom.
“I know that look and it doesn’t bode well for Shauna. Let’s sit back and watch the fireworks.” Douglas sat in a chair, crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back on two legs. He looked like a man settling in for a good football game.
“I don’t think this is the right time for Louise to scold Shauna. This is big.”
“I know. Just wait, son. You’ll see what I mean.”
Not one minute later Louise pulled Shauna out of the bedroom. The words flowed as Shauna trailed behind her. “In all my born days I’ve never seen two people more in love than you two blockheads. Except maybe your father and me. But that’s beside the point.” Louise waved her hand in the air. “Sit. So, you live in different time zones, big deal.”
“What?” both Shauna and Mike said at the same time.
“Mom,” Shauna said, exasperation dripping from her tone. “They’re not time zones like I’d have to move across the country. They’re centuries.”
“I know that darling. Sit.” Louise pointed to the sofa. Shauna sat. “What’s your biggest fear, daughter?”
“That I’ll not see you again.” Shauna jumped back up. “Mom, I just found you and Dad. I can’t… I won’t let you go again.”
“Mike, what’s your biggest fear?” Louise asked him, ignoring Shauna’s pacing.
“I have two. One, that I’ll never see my brother Scott again. I raised him. We’re so close. I feel as if I’d be abandoning him.” Mike’s throat closed up and he couldn’t speak for a minute. After clearing it a couple of times he said, “And two, that if I go back I’ll never see Shauna again. I can’t imagine life without her by my side. It’s a no-win situation,” Mike said glumly.
“For two highly intelligent people you sure are dense.” Louise flopped on the sofa and waited with an expectant look on her face.
Shauna stood over her mother glaring. “Dad, can’t you get her to make sense?”
Louise stood up and pointed to her husband. “Don’t you dare interfere here. And you sit,” she said to Shauna.
Douglas grinned from ear to ear. “Oh, I won’t interfere, my darling w
ife. You’re doing a fine job of it all by yourself.”
Louise harrumphed but turned to her daughter. “What’s that job you do every day again?”
“You know darn well, Mom—” Shauna stopped. “Oh my God! I hadn’t thought of that.”
“What?” Mike asked. He saw the look of joy spreading across Shauna’s face and felt his first sense of hope since last night. In two strides he was beside, her holding her hand.
“So, are we having a wedding or not?” Louise asked. She looked like the cat that swallowed the cream.
“Don’t leave me in the dark, Shauna,” Mike said. “I’m only the groom. Or am I?”
A blinding radiance filled Shauna. Mike gaped at her beauty and wondered why he hadn’t seen her like that before. For the first time in his life he felt his legs quiver and knew they wouldn’t hold him up. He sank to the floor right in front of her and dropped his head into his lap afraid he might pass out.
Shauna fell to her knees. She raised his head and kissed him all over his face. With both hands she pulled him up and said, “Mike Forrester, I’m honored to be your wife and would love to live in your century.”
The unexpected rush of love and relief that filled Mike surprised him. Tears slid down his cheeks. “But how can you give up your parents?” he whispered.
“I won’t be giving them up,” Shauna laughed. “You see, I’m the inventor of time travel. I can go back and forth, didn’t we already prove it?”
“There aren’t any side effects from traveling between centuries so much?”
“No. I’ve been in your time more than you realize. I’ve worked secretly with Planet Care Health Systems to make sure time travel was safe.”
“Sweetheart, are you sure you want to live between our two worlds?” He knew it was the only way but wanted to be sure of Shauna’s feelings. She’d be doing the traveling most of the time, but Mike vowed he’d come back to visit her family. He loved them too much not to.
“I’m positive,” Shauna said.
The glowing look of love that radiated from Shauna was all Mike needed to see. He turned to Louise and Douglas and said, “Well? What are we waiting for?”
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